Earth's Guardian
by SteadyUniverse
Summary: The world of the Z-Fighters has been left to rot. By the time that Piccolo awakens, any trace of the previous civilization has been erased, but for the Shinobi, who live their lives by deception and murder. Can Piccolo help Mr. Popo find a suitable Guardian of Earth? Will Naruto fill this role? Can the Earth be saved?
1. Chapter 1

Naruto X Dragon Ball Z: Earth's Guardian

Chapter 1: Piccolo

* * *

Deep in the dark reaches of a long forgotten cavern, two sharp eyes opened for the first time in centuries. In the midst of the black cave his eyes darted along the rough rock and dripping water that had been his tomb. He shook loose his stiff shoulders and ignored the numbness of his legs as he stood up. Perhaps he had been in meditation longer than he realized?

The first few weary steps were a challenge and his footing in the dark cave was unsure. It wouldn't be fitting to slip so soon after waking up – bad way to start the day. He held up a green finger and a small orb of blue energy formed over his sharp fingernail, illuminating the way. A cloud of startled bats descended from the ceiling and rushed past him and out into the world. He easily dodged each one, even as groggy as he was, no bat was going to fly into his face.

His footsteps echoed through the cavern as he made his way up towards the surface. Flying would be faster, but walking was preferable. After being devoid of sunlight for so long, even the orb of light was taking a hefty toll out of him. Luckily, he was nearly out.

He took in the beauty of the night's sky and couldn't help the smile that crept to his face. Even if the world had changed, at least the moon and stars above would remain the same. Well, the moon was liable to get blown up again at some point if he encountered any Saiyans – doubtful as that was. The pond that had been just outside of the cavern he had chosen all those years ago had now become quite larger. That was concerning.

"I have aged." He said once he managed to quench his thirst with the cool clear water. His reflection showed several more wrinkles than he remembered. Luckily he didn't look half as old as when he was Kami. Old meant weak. "The Lookout should be west of here."

The journey lasted well into the next day. Once he had absorbed enough sunlight, he took to the skies. All of the confused and outright terrified looks he had received from passersby had been irritating to say the least.

It was if they had never seen a green alien in a cape and turban before.

From his aerial view point, the alien could see that the landscape seemed to have changed drastically from the one that he was accustomed to. Even as he strained his eyes as hard as he could there was no sign of the developing cities with their tall buildings of metal and glass. Sure there were still scattered settlements but they seemed to have regressed to a more simple style of life. Not so much as a cement road marred the landscape.

His hand went to the few Capsule Corp capsules that he kept on him in case of emergency. If they were still in working order then they were undoubtedly the most advanced pieces of technology on Earth.

The strength of the average human seemed to be much higher, and off in the distance he could detect some quite decent power levels scattered around the planet. At least the martial arts had not fallen by the wayside if the surprising strength of these humans was anything to judge. There were other possible explanations, but he refused to believe that the Saiyan gene had managed to diffuse itself into the average population. A planet of Gokus would truly be HFIL(1).

It was hard to tell, but he assumed that he was getting closer to the Lookout, and he fully expected to see Korin's Tower at any moment. Who would be attending the Tower at this point in time? Some far off descendant of Yajirobe? He shuddered at the thought.

He continued flying towards the Tower's presumed location, but try as he might, he could not find a trace of the monolithic structure. This was worrying. He flew straight upwards fast as he could – up, up, up, up, - beyond the clouds that obscured the sky.

And there not 5 miles from his location was the Lookout.

From a distance one could see that the red and green bands going around the bottom of the Lookout had chipped away, blown away, as far as he could tell – revealing the tan stone beneath. He landed on the stripped away tile floor, perhaps one in three tiles remained on the surface intact.

Once pristine and orderly, the Lookout had fallen into decay. The shrubbery that decorated the dome shaped platform had long since withered, a disturbing sight because they were magically linked to the state of the Lookout and the world to a lesser extent. The magic behind the Lookout was something that not even he could recreate and ancient beyond comprehension.

The small Palace at the far end of the devastated Lookout did not seem any better. Both side towers had been ripped away from the structure and lay in rubble just behind the main building. A large chunk of the dome at the very top of the ornate structure had been destroyed and had collapsed in on itself, leaving debris scattered around the immediate area.

He shook his head wearily before pressing onward into the ruined building through the barely standing archway that led inside. There was a collapsed figure, rotund and dark as night, sitting in a heap leaning against the wall nearest the Scrying Pool. "Popo?"

The jet-black genie turned an eye over to him and for a moment he turned away, lost as he was in the visions of the pool. Then he snapped upright, stiffer than a board and clambered to his feet. A dusty voice called out to him, "Pic-colo? Kami?"

"Yes, Popo, tell me what has happened."

The genie was on him instantly, gripping him by the arms as though he were an illusion about to fade away. "So long... So long..."

"You look like a mess. This whole world looks like a mess."

Mr. Popo tried to wrap his turban a little tighter as he considered the statement. He pulled at the scraps of his vest and looked down in dismay at his tattered pants. "Many things, Kami-sama, so much."

"I'm not Kami, not anymore. You know this."

"Y-yes. Yes, well, much has happened in the time since your disappearance." Popo's eyes grew sharp, "And where exactly were you for all this time?"

Piccolo sighed and answered, "Meditating... Or hibernating... I did not intend for it to be such a long rest. I seem to have missed an age, an entire portion of history that I should have had a hand in shaping is gone."

"You have missed more than an age! You have missed EVERYTHING." Popo said bitterly as he stressed the last word with more venom than the Namekian had ever seen from the Lookout's eternal attendant.

"What have I missed?"

"Where to start?"

"Try the beginning."

"When - I... Dende was devastated by your disappearance, you know. The only other Namekian on Earth and you chose to disappear for centuries! You were to teach him Kami's knowledge of magic! You were to be his mentor and to assist him in his duties as Guardian of Earth!"

Piccolo let out a snort and said, "Again, my hibernation was unintentional. Something must have happened to send me out of commission for so long."

"...I suppose you are correct." Mr Popo agreed with a long sigh, "Dende's heart was corrupted over the long years of your disappearance and he became unfit as Guardian of Earth."

"I see."

"When I was forced to remove him from his duties he attempted to split himself in two, just as you did all those years ago. But he was not powerful enough to survive the dichotomy and it only resulted in his untimely death! I tried to warn him, to provide him counsel, but he would not listen. His heart had been too damaged."

"Surely, there were other Namekians in the universe that you could have called on to mentor him." He suggested.

"And how was I, or anyone, supposed to reach New Namek?" Popo asked incredulously.

"Bulma always keeps a spaceship at the rea-"

"BULMA and her entire company had long since disappeared from the Earth," the genie spoke quickly and with much bitterness, "the Z fighters had all died many years before Dende's fall from grace. Without them to defend the world it fell into chaos. Remnants of the Red Ribbon Army formed into terrorist cells all around the world. They threw the world into anarchy."

Piccolo cursed briefly and asked, "What of the remaining Saiyans? Goku and Vegeta's descendants?"

"Their Saiyan blood was quite diffused by this time and they were little more than powerful humans, incapable of the Super Saiyan transformations."

"Damn."

"Damn indeed. Especially once the Red Ribbon Army caught wind of the Saiyan genes. They rounded up every human with Saiyan DNA they could find and performed experiments. Dende and I watched in horror from here, as the only connections we had to the Z Fighters were cruelly changed and manipulated. It was one of the most crushing experiences that caused Dende's fall." Popo continued gravely. "The Red Ribbon Army manufactured artificial Saiyans and controlled their minds in order to take over the world. Wealthy people and private armies could pay an ungodly amount to receive the augmentations and become Saiyans themselves, they were not nearly as powerful and Goku and Vegeta, but it was chaos.

"Over time the world grew more violent and countries combined nuclear weapons and biological tech to make the most advanced and terrible fighting forces that I have ever seen. It was in the midst of this bloodshed and violence that Dende began to walk down a bad path and his heart was corrupted with Darkness.

"By now the Red Ribbon Army had taken the Throne from the Furry Line (2) and committed a genocide on all non-human intelligent beings in the world under the guise of finishing the war against the dead King. They succeeded in their purge and precious few species were able to escape this world by some unknown magic. However, their solid grip on the globe was being shaken by splinter cells from the larger Red Ribbon Army and once more the world was at war. Nuclear weapons and bio-tech nearly destroyed everything and the effects are still being felt in the world today. A great beast came to life and nearly silenced all of creation. The mortals in this world refer to the beast as the Ten-Tailed Bijuu – it's birth ended the era of technology and advanced warfare. Humanity became prisoners on their own planet, the oppression of the Juubi was unspeakable."

Piccolo shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm guessing that Korin's Tower was destroyed during this conflict?"

"Yes. Along with most other traces of civilization. One man managed to stop the great beast, but I knew he could not become the Guardian, as darkness coursed through his heart despite his good intentions - he had seen too much death. The world you see now has had centuries of recovery and has finally settled into an uneasy peace – broken by occasional bouts of War. It is a savage land, where even children are forced to kill in the name of their home countries. I look back on our world during the time of the Z-Fighters wistfully, it was paradise in comparison." Mr Popo spoke, his eyes clouded by tears - he roughly wiped them away. "All this time, since Dende's death, I have sat by the Scrying Pool," he gestured to the crystal water, "bearing witness to the atrocities of this world, I can honestly say that this world is not worthy of redemption, Piccolo. I can tell you that humanity is unworthy. The ideals of my creator, the first Guardian of Earth have been completely abandoned."

"Then we find a new guardian! Someone with a pure heart and power enough to guide the world out of it's darkness!" Piccolo said confidently.

Popo appraised him, eyes grim, "There is no one worthy. They are murderers all. And you are clearly not eligible. To abandon the world for so long, Kami's influence must have been more shallow than I expected."

Piccolo ignored the jibe, "Surely, there are some pure-hearted humans left."

"You have not seen this new planet, the warriors who inhabit it, these Shinobi are powerful but they kill their emotions in order to commit murder and other crimes, and for money! A world full of mercenaries and thugs all poised to kill each other and sabotage each other for some twisted sense of patriotism! It is despicable."

"Time has made you view the Era of the Z-Fighters through rose-colored lenses, it was not so peaceful. There were threats incalculable and still corrupted humans and countries at war. It was not such a paradise that this world is completely foreign to me."

"Yes, someone of your bearing would certainly be at home in this hell." Popo growled at him, "Demon King Piccolo indeed."

The Namekian burst forward and grabbed the genie by the throat and pinned him to the wall, "DO NOT TEST ME, ATTENDANT! Look at the Lookout! Look at the world! It is not only me who has failed the Earth! When Dende died you should have found a replacement, it is your duty to assist the Guardian of Earth and to ensure that the position remains occupied. But look at you. You are a shadow of your former self - made bitter by passing time voyeuristically watching the evil that this world has to offer. It is not just this world that has suffered a slide towards darkness... So have you." He released Popo, who fell, boneless, to the ground in a heap. "Examine yourself before you throw out baseless accusations."

Tears gathered in Mr. Popo's eyes and he tugged his ragged turban down to cover them as he sobbed quietly. Piccolo turned away in disgust and left the genie to wallow in his misery. There was much repair work to be done around the Lookout.

* * *

He spent the next few hours clearing rubble, but there was only so much he could do. The Lookout could be restored magically, but an active Guardian had to be present in order for that enchantment to kick in. Without Popo's assistance in finding a good candidate he would have no clue where to start. Popo had mentioned that the prominent fighting force on Earth were known as Shinobi, and their strength was likely a result of the genetic manipulations of the Red Ribbon Army.

Piccolo's mind wandered to Goku and what he would do in this situation. Probably he would fly right into the heart of each Shinobi faction and demand to fight the strongest one there. But, Piccolo knew that he could not act as the pure-hearted Saiyan once did – it was not in his nature. Goku would surely have found a way to peace.

Perhaps he would have to find a way to visit Other World, where Goku and the other Z-Fighters were surely still fighting and training. "Maybe I should just kill myself and leave Popo and this world to rot," he mused aloud as he stood at the edge of the circular platform, overlooking the planet.

"Please, don't." Mr. Popo spoke from as he emerged from the ruined archway – having finally snapped out of his depression. "You are right, Piccolo. I have lost myself to time... I.. I have seen unspeakable things but that does not excuse my behavior. The state of the world is just as much my responsibility as it is yours."

Piccolo turned to face the dark-skinned genie and let out a hefty sigh, "I apologize for being so harsh before. I know it must have been tough on you, but this whole situation is ludicrous. I would have hoped that the world could survive without the strength of the Z-Fighters but I was obviously mistaken. After Goku came to our planet, it was never the same. Earth faced more trouble during his life than in all of it's history – myself included. There is no way that there would not be any backlash from his existence."

"Yes, the state of the world is regrettable... But, in my despair, I was not entirely truthful to you earlier."

"How so?"

"There is a suitable candidate for Guardian of the Earth. A boy that I have watched from time to time in order to restore my spirit. He is truly incorruptible – as pure as they come. Despite the quite wretched existence that he finds himself living."

Piccolo's curiosity was piqued. "Show me."

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto woke up that morning, ready to make the best of his day and to show everyone what he was made of. Same as every other day. "Yahooo!" he shouted as he slid down the banister that led to the ground floor of his apartment building – unconcerned by the hateful stare of his Landlord who happened to be walking by.

He was out of the door like lightning as he ran swiftly through the crowded streets – making sound effects and noises as he tried his best to emulate the ninjas he saw performing their duties on a daily basis. Naruto hid behind a passing cart of vegetables – lost in his imaginary world – and tried to avoid alerting the merchant to his presence. He was quite talented in using stealth, even though he was loud enough to wake the dead. Unfortunately, he could not keep everyone's eyes off of him as he crouched beside the cart and eventually the merchant caught onto his game because of all the glares sent at his cart.

"You rotten brat! Get the hell away from my vegetables before you taint them!" The heavy man shouted at him, spittle flying from the hole beneath his large mustache that some would call a mouth.

Naruto merely stuck his tongue out at the man and said, "You already tainted them mister! You really stink! Hahahaha!" before scampering away to go play elsewhere.

The merchant continued on his way as he muttered, "Shitty little demon brat..." under his breath.

The blond boy had sprinted down the street when he saw a golden opportunity. A painter was finishing up the last touches of the new mural on the wall of a shop that had refused him service before. He snickered before approaching the painter as quietly as he could, "BOO!"

"GAHAGAH!" the painter was startled enough to both drop his palette and to smudge a fat line of red paint across the nearly completed work, he turned around with fury in his eyes and when they found Naruto grinning at him he nearly went ballistic. He stepped forward to throttle the boy, but Naruto had already ran off. "Damn you, you punk!"

Naruto ignored the name-calling and continued on his merry way. Playing around with the adults in his village sure could be a blast! And so he went about his day, making mischief and trouble everywhere he went. He was also lucky enough to snag some good food that someone was about to throw away. Ramen was great and everything but sometimes different food was nice too.

He went to the park to try and find some friends to play with, but as usual, the parents dragged their children away from the park as soon as he dared to show his face. It wasn't all bad though, as he managed to amuse himself on the swings and the monkey-bars for a while. The novelty of it wore off soon enough and he went off to find someone to pester for a while before he went by the Ichiraku's for dinner.

* * *

Popo looked up from the pool, his face serene. "I found him a couple of years ago... He has been a source of relief to me ever since."

"I don't see what so great about this kid. He seems like a brat to me."

"That's not true! Naruto is a very resourceful and resilient child, with the strength of heart to not be overwhelmed by his hard life. I can feel the pureness of his heart..."

Piccolo scoffed at the statement. He supposed since Popo was created to keep the position as Guardian of Earth constantly occupied he would have some sort of sense about the quality of a person's character. Piccolo was unsure if he would be able to sense the pureness of one's heart himself. Goku possessed the ability and if he remembered correctly, so did Kami, but Piccolo could only determine it through fighting with the person in question. Perhaps his own heart was still too muddled to see into anyone else's."You truly believe that he could be the Guardian?"

"Yes, he is the only one I have found in centuries. There was another but he was badly needed on the Earth – a Guardian can not run around as he pleases." Popo was adamant as he spoke, "My view had been shifted to another part of the world before I found Naruto, in Mizu no Kuni. So I don't know much about his circumstances, but he possesses a great power within him. The adults in his village hate him for this reason, but I have faith in him"

"Well, what do you suggest I do about it. Go kidnap him?"

Mr. Popo thought it over for a few silent moments. "Yes."

"What?!"

"But, before that, I am going to educate you on the state of the world. First, the sea level is much higher than you remember and entire portions of the globe were destroyed during the end. There are many countries and in most of the powerful ones, there is a single village that trains the most lethal fighters that this world has to offer, Shinobi. These warriors use a strange field-like energy known as Chakra, it is a combination of..."

* * *

Naruto sat down on his couch with his cup ramen in hand, sighing in relief, nothing better than ramen to take the edge off of a hard day of annoying the citizens of Konoha. He took a casual sip of the steaming hot soup and spit it out quite violently for two reasons.

1. The soup was very hot.

2. Two freaks with impossible skin colors had shown up in his living room. One was a very tall green thing with pointed ears and narrowed eyes. He wore a plain purple sleeveless shirt and purple pants with a red sash around his waist, as well as a turban wrapped in white cloth. There, two large pointed pauldrons secured to his shoulders covered by a white cape with much excess cloth around his neck. His arms had two large patches of pink flesh that seemed to be muscle. The other was a shorter and rounder thing with black – literally pitch black skin. He wore a simple maroon vest and white pants and a red sash similar to the other one's. There were gold bands secured to this ones arms and he seemed to be watching Naruto in obvious interest – his round eyes were fixated on the boy.

"W-what?! WHAT?!" Naruto's mouth fell open and he flung his ramen across the room at the intruders, in his shock. "GAH! My ramen – you made me spill it."

The hurled soup had landed squarely on the short one's face, but he seemed unbothered as the scalding liquid covered him and the flimsy cup bounced off of him, delivering noodles to his nose. The noodles slid off onto the ground as the black thing smiled at him. "It's nice to meet you, Naruto."

"LEAAVE! Don't be here! This means I'm crazy, right? You guys are too weird!" Naruto shouted as he pointed at them accusingly.

"This isn't going too well, let's just grab him already. He's making too much noise."

"Piccolo!"

"Grab me?!" Naruto retrieved the single kunai that he had managed to find in his wanderings. He kept it, conveniently enough, between his couch cushions. He jumped to his feet and held it out in front of him. "I don't think so!"

The green guy disappeared from the carpet and was instantly right at Naruto's side. "Night, night." He said mockingly as he knocked Naruto out with a swift chop to his neck.

"Piccolo! That was not the plan!"

"Screw the plan."

* * *

When Naruto awoke it was to the sight of the night's sky. The stars above him were brighter than he had ever seen and numerous beyond words – twinkling above him like gems waiting to be snapped up by a grasping hand. "Woah..."

"Look who's awake." A deep voice spoke from somewhere behind him.

He twisted around while on the ground and quickly moved into a crouch, if this were any other situation he would be congratulating himself on pulling off the cool move, but this was no laughing matter. He had been abducted by aliens! "Get away from me you alien! There will be no probing done today!"

"How did you know I was an alien?" The green thing asked him, arms folded over his chest. "Was it the green skin?"

Naruto couldn't believe his misfortune. He had been kidnapped by an actual alien. "Gah! I can't decide whether this is cool or not! Maybe if it happened to someone else..." The blond boy continued thinking hard on his situation and Piccolo could practically hear the pistons firing and misfiring in his head as he quite physically tried to knock some sense into himself while running around senselessly.

"Popo! I think this kid is about to short-circuit!" Piccolo shouted to the genie, who was busy trying to create a living space and food for Naruto. Most of the main chambers were fine but the entrances to certain other rooms – including the Pendulum Room and the Hyperbolic Time Chamber – were currently blocked off by rubble. It was fortunate that these rooms were within the Lookout's interior and not on the surface where they could have been destroyed.

Mr. Popo emerged from under the archway with a pleasant look forced on to his face and he said, "Please, Naruto, settle down. There is no need for concern. Our intentions with you are noble I promise. My name is Mr. Popo and we did not take you from your village for no reason."

The blond had apparently had enough of freaking out and focused on the genie. "What could you want from me? It's not like I'm good at anything." He also wanted to add that no one would miss him, but there was no reason to say that to a couple of kidnapper aliens.

"Nice lack of confidence, kid." Piccolo said derisively to Naruto, trying his hardest to get under Naruto's skin. He honestly doubted the worth of this child, he seemed like a scrawny runt with an annoying personality. Gohan at a similar age was already miles ahead of this one in every way. From the looks of the blond, Gohan had already been to Namek and faced off against Frieza. This one did not measure up. Especially when it came to discipline, Piccolo could tell. The kid would have to be tested before he had any faith.

"What the heck does that mean?! I don't like you, green guy!" Naruto pointed at him and took a battle stance. "I am Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage of Konoha, and don't you forget it!"

'Hmm... At least he has motivation.' Piccolo thought, but did not voice his opinion. He merely continued to fix Naruto with a neutral stare as the boy glared at him, ready to attack at any moment.

"Settle down, Naruto. Piccolo has your best interests in mind, just as I do." The genie said, stepping between the two, "I understand that your meal was interrupted when we came to collect you. Are you hungry by any chance?"

He seemed highly intrigued by the offer of food. Good food was hard to come by. That's why ramen was so wonderful - very cheap and very tasty. It was as good a meal as his meager allowance would let him buy consistently. Mr. Popo led Naruto into the large domed building that he had barely noticed in his excitement and after going through a few barren rooms they finally came to a larger, circular room. There was a table in the very center, with a bed farther off behind it. There was a veritable feast on the table – bowls of rice, a plate of cooked fish piled high, a large pot of what seemed to be soup (sadly did not appear to be ramen), a roasted chicken, plates of dumplings and a few other dishes that he could not recognize on sight.

"D-do I...have to eat it all?"

Popo scratched his head, through his turban, as he answered, "Er... No."

Naruto nodded, satisfied with the answer and sat on the solitary chair before the mountain of food. He dug in and immediately Piccolo's eyes widened. The Namekian had seen that ferocious eating style from a select few individuals. Naruto went from bowl to bowl and plate to plate and quickly consumed the contents of each, his hands were moving fast and his jaws were working overtime to keep up with the sheer speed of his chopsticks.

"Wow, I think he's ambidextrous." Popo said distantly as he watched the demolition of food taking place.

Piccolo frowned, seeing Naruto's stomach slowly expand as he shoveled more into his mouth was reminding him of someone far too much. 'If this kid turns into a giant monkey on the full moon I'm going to lose my shit.' "You don't have a tail, do you, kid?"

Naruto snorted and swallowed down enough of the meal in his mouth to sloppily say, "No one has a tail. You aliens really don't know much about humans, I guess." He continued to eat but was then interrupted by a thought, "Hey, where did this food come from? I didn't see a kitchen."

"Oh, I made the food." Popo answered with an easy smile.

"No way! An alien could never make delicious food like this!" Naruto asked as he peered around the table, reexamining the dishes to make sure there were no bizzare alien ingredients.

Piccolo spoke up, "I'm the alien. Popo is a genie and the attendant of this Lookout."

"Besides, I didn't even have to cook it! All I need to do is..." Popo snapped his fingers and another roasted chicken appeared on the table alongside the half eaten one.

"MEAT POWERS!"

"NOT meat powers."

"I am a genie, Naruto. I am able to conjure most anything. Complicated machinery is beyond my talent, but most objects can be made with little difficulty."

Naruto took on the manners of a highly caffeinated chimpanzee and jumped out of his seat, he shouted, "Make a giant bowl of ramen! No make a really long kunai that I can use like a sword! Or maybe a – NO! Make two giant bowls of ramen!"

Piccolo sneered as he thought, 'This kid is insufferable.' "Close that mouth of yours for a second. Are you not even curious as to why we have abducted you from your home?"

The boy actually paused for a moment to consider that very question. His kidnappers had said that they had his best intentions in mind but what reason did he have to believe them? Mr. Popo seemed like a good guy. The green one, Piccolo, clearly had it out for him though. He gave Naruto the same dismissive glare that all the adults of his village used. "Ok, so what do you want with me?"

Popo was furious at Piccolo for forcing the issue, he had hoped to make Naruto more comfortable before dropping the anvil, so to speak. "Well, we would like to make you into a protector of the world, the one who watches over everyone to ensure that they are safe. Piccolo and I wish to mold you into the Guardian of the Earth."

Naruto's eyes went wide. "W-what?!" He was shocked by the idea. While he was not exactly sure what being a Guardian of anything entailed, being the Guardian of Earth did sound very prestigious. Even more so than being Hokage. But, Konoha was his home! "Can I still become Hokage if I am the Guardian?"

This intrigued Piccolo. As far as he could tell, Naruto was rather disliked in his home village. Popo did not know why exactly, but he had made it explicitly clear to Piccolo that Naruto had overcome adversity in his short life. Was the kid really so stubborn as to want to return to a place that despised him?

Popo seemed to have anticipated this question and he smiled at Naruto, as if pleased by him, "I am afraid that you would have to make your home here, on the Lookout. But from your place here you can watch over not just your home village but the entire world! Your village will be within your sight and if need be you can go and intervene." It was only half of a lie.

The blond's eyes went wide as he tried desperately to think things over. "Would I need to be strong to be Guardian? Would you train me?" He asked Mr Popo.

"The guardian does not require power. You will be a watchful eye above creation, with wisdom enough to guide the planet through any strife."

"That sounds boring..." Naruto deadpanned. "If I can't even protect Konoha then what's the point of this?"

"If the need arises for your training then Piccolo will attend to your needs."

"The hell I will!" Both Popo and Naruto's eyes snapped to the Namekian, he continued, "Don't go volunteering me for anything! Before I can even think of training this boy, I will need to test him." Piccolo walked over to the boy and said, "You should sleep well tonight." he continued over to Popo, "Conjure him some warm clothing if you want him to live." He walked out the door.

Popo was soon after him, demanding answers. Piccolo turned and cut them all off, "I am going to gauge the worth of the boy, you may be convinced of his value, but I am not so swayed by what I have seen. I am going to check on the state of the Yunzabit Heights and see if he could possibly survive there."

"The world's climate is completely different from your memories, the Yunzabit Heights are covered in snow and even many years ago, bringing a child there would have been a death sentence. There is a place you can take him, if you must... Off the coast of the mainland is a large island, to the southeast, largely uninhabited by man. There used to be a settlement, but it was destroyed years ago – jungle now covers the island and wild life has reclaimed the ruins... I assume you wish to test him as you did Gohan?"

"Gohan needed toughening up, but he was far more mature and disciplined than this one. If I am going to train this boy then this is just the beginning – he is much worse than Gohan ever was..." Piccolo quickly crossed the length of the Lookout and shot off towards the earth.

Popo shook his head despondently and turned to go tell Naruto just exactly what Piccolo's intentions were.

* * *

AN: And there's Chapter 1, folks. Hope everybody liked it. For those who might want to know when my other story is going to be updated, it should be soon. This fic has been clogging up my thought process for Hour of Darkness for quite a while now and I'd rather just put the fic out so I can get back to HoD sometime soon.

(1): HFIL: Home For Infinite Losers – The DBZ equivalent of Hell. I know its just Hell in the unedited version but I like it anyway, so I'm sticking with HFIL.

(2): The Furry Line – The King of Earth in DBZ is a dog, named King Furry. I think the joke is that a dog wished to be king of the Earth on the Dragon Balls and the King we see is one of his descendants.

(3): The Artificial Saiyan Disaster – Doctor Gero had one last repository for his mind after being turned into Android 20. Some unlucky bastard stumbled upon it and our friend the Doctor managed to convince him to try and take over the world. Armed with the knowledge and scientific advances of Doctor Gero, he built a business empire for himself and took over Capsule Corps' previous spot as the top tech company in the world. With his fortune, the man built an army. The Red Ribbon Army had been revived and were more dangerous than ever. They committed horrible deeds and began to experiment heavily in genetic mutation. Instead of creating a being like Cell, they attempted to turn themselves into something more than human. The experiments eventually succeeded and beings with the power to rival pure-blooded Saiyans were unleashed.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think so I can improve the story.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Unfortunate Coincidence

* * *

Naruto stood alone on the shore of the huge island that he would call home for the next 3 months. He had been left with a large, sheathed machete with a thin rope to secure it overshoulder, a couple matchbooks, and enough water for a few days. Piccolo had also conjured a purple gi similar to his own with matching pants directly on to Naruto's body, saying they were far more durable than his simple shorts and t-shirt. The boy had asked him, "What do I do for food?"

"You find an animal and eat it. Or you could pick fruit and coconuts off the trees, a bit of both. Try fishing. Anyway, it's none of my concern. If you wish to become strong and receive my teaching you must make a living for yourself." Piccolo turned to leave.

"But, I don't even know if I want to be Guardian! And now you're going to leave me alone here for 3 months? I just want to go home!" Naruto shouted.

"This is where my involvement stops." He looked over his shoulder at the desperate child and said, "If you can survive this, I will make you more powerful than you can imagine. If not... Well, you were unlucky to have caught my interest." The alien blasted off into the sky leaving only a billowing cloud of sand to mark his place.

And now he was alone.

The boy tried hard not to let panic overtake him, despite how dark and wide the jungle before him looked, he had survived in Konoha with no one to look after him for years now. This was just the same, and perhaps easier, as no one would be trying to keep the food away from him – money wasn't even an issue anymore. He looked dubiously at the machete Piccolo had tossed at his feet. Was this weapon provided to make sure that he did not become food himself?

He went through the few lessons on survival they had begun to cover in the Academy. Naruto suddenly wished he had payed more attention during class on those days and that he had actually attended more often. He had never wished for a text book so hard in his life... Well, he had never wished for a textbook.

Despite how much he thought on it, Naruto could only recall a few things. One was the fire making lesson, fortunately enough. He had thought it quite amusing being able to light fires if needed and it turned out his interest would come in handy. His second bit of remembered knowledge was that sea water was undrinkable because of the salt. This meant that he would need to find water before his own ran out, if he wanted to live.

'You are much safer among the treetops when moving stealthily.. People and animals have a tendency to not look up.' He could see his teacher at the Academy droning on about this particular lecture clearly in his mind. It had been after a particularly nasty prank involving Naruto dropping a bucket of thumbtacks on a chuunin who had bullied him the day before. The unkind teacher had pointedly said that some ninja would take advantage of this in order to ambush much more skilled opponents, while glaring at Naruto.

"If it worked in Konoha it could work here..."

* * *

Popo stood near the Scrying Pool, watching the object of his interest as he nimbly scaled a large tree. It figured that Naruto would be talented at climbing trees considering he came from a village that was named for the surrounding massive forest. The boy reached the highest branch that would support his weight and peered around at the shoreline, blue eyes searching for any sign of opportunity.

The genie distantly felt Piccolo's ki drawing closer and turned from the pool to greet the Namekian as he would no doubt be arriving soon. He walked in measured steps towards the exterior of the Lookout, his gaze downward and his hands folded behind him. "Piccolo has changed over his long rest..." Popo mused aloud, his voice accompanied the sound of his footsteps as they echoed within the silence of the Lookout.

Piccolo arrived shortly, a grimace on his face. "I'd say you're going to have to rescue that kid. I don't think he's going to make it longer than a week."

"I will do as is necessary."

"Feh, and unless you want that kid's death on your hands, I would keep a very close eye on him. It wouldn't surprise me if he were eaten by some large animal."

"You underestimate him. I cannot fathom why, but you seem to harbor some resentment for this boy."

Piccolo contemplated the statement. Perhaps he had been tough on the kid, but it would be far crueler to set this boy up for the role of guardian if he had no potential. Although if he were honest with himself there was something slightly unsettling about Naruto. He could almost detect some sort of hidden malice or just a general sense of wrongness in the air around him. The Namekian chose to remain silent.

"But you are right. I will need to watch him, carefully. He may be resourceful, but he is still just a child. It is not so necessary for the Guardian to be a skilled fighter."

"In case you don't remember, the role of the Guardian is to protect the Earth. Though the world was peaceful enough for a long while of Kami's rule, it was still his duty to enter the fray if need be. We all surpassed Kami rather quickly and so this aspect of his job was never really exersized. At least not since my dear old Father wreaked havoc on the planet." Piccolo spoke with conviction. "Dende was ill prepared to defend it because we felt that the Z-fighters were enough. His lack of preparetion caused this world to decay. The first responsibility of the Guardian is to protect against any hazard that may appear – either through direct intervention or by proxy."

Popo responded tersely, "This world is stable enough. He is also still very young and so I don't think combat will be in his schedule any time soon. First I must educate him in all things, he must have wisdom."

"I can agree with that, but wisdom will only take you so far during a fight. If this world is as bad as you say then I could see war breaking out at any time. He needs to be ready to fight, and from what I can see the humans on this planet are far stronger than in our time. I can also feel a few big powers around the world, which is concerning, considering that this boy will have to put up with all of it."

"Do you intend to abandon the Earth for a second time?"

Some distant part of Piccolo did feel the need to visit New Namek and to check that his Homeworld was not in any sort of peril. Most likely it was Nail's influence showing itself. "No, but I do not intend to fight every battle. If you are going to mold this boy into the Guardian than you must not just educate him but make him powerful enough to put up with those Shinobi that you loathe so much." Popo glared at this statement, knowing he had been beaten. "Unless of course you wish him to die young?" Piccolo said in order to drive his point home harder.

"Fine. Train him if you must."

"You're the one who volunteered me."

"I would rather not force Naruto into the position. Its better for him to feel some incentive to do it himself."

"I agree."

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke lightly to the envoy from Iwagakure, gesturing here and there and generally trying to be as charismatic as possible. The man was a civilian, who were generally more swayed by such meaningless gestures. His shinobi guard was poised around the large well-furnished office, and the Hokage himself was flanked by two masked ANBU, who stood alert and motionless.

There had been the small matter of the representative's shinobi guard containing two extra Iwa-Nins, but the man was a minor noble and they generally did not not like to be underprotected. The situation was resolved with minor dispute and so the meeting had gone well from then on, with the caveat that the two extra shinobi wait by the village gates.

It was quite rare that there was any interaction between Iwa and Konoha and so Sarutobi was trying his hardest to ensure that everything went smoothly. He continued to charm the Noble, who had a greater sway in the Land of Earth than the nobles in his own country. The Daimyo of the Land of Fire was a skilled politician internally but he preferred to leave more serious matters concerning diplomacy to the aged Hokage who had managed to keep the peace for years.

Suddenly, one of his ANBU Operatives leaned down to whisper something in his ear. Another ANBU was waiting outside the door with urgent information and was requesting permission to enter. Sarutobi weighed his options before turning to the noble and saying, "Pardon the interruption, but it appears that something serious has come up. Just a moment please."

"Oh, take your time. Ho hoho..." The man laughed behind his hand as he courteously responded.

The newly arrived ANBU, Dog, approached the desk quickly and immediately leaned down to the Hokage's ear, he began to whisper furiously – his single coal gray eye darted to the representative from Iwa during the telling.

Sarutobi's mood grew cold and he wearily stood from his desk. "It appears as though this meeting is over."

The noble remained seated but asked indignantly, "What exactly do you mean, Hokage-dono?"

"One of the shinobi from your guard is missing, the mud clone the man had switched himself with was noticed by a passing Hyuuga. It also seems that one of our citizens – a major asset to Konoha, is missing." Sarutobi began to walk away from the shocked man, "You are no longer welcome in this village and trust you me, we will investigate this matter fully. Pray that our search is inconclusive."

"I have never experienced this level of disrespect Hokage-dono! This will not go unaccounted for in Iwagakure's future dealings towards your village."

"The feeling is mutual." Sarutobi said as he paused in his walk, "We open our village to you as a sign of faith and you rob us of a very precious resource. Tell your superiors that the Will of Fire illuminates the darkness of deception and burns those that would seek to smother it. Do not expect your missing shinobi to return to your village. We will find him." And the Hokage left, his two ANBU guards following behind.

"Curse that old man!" The noble said bitterly. While it was true that the missing shinobi was off performing a mission it was certainly nothing serious! It was a simple reconnaissance mission to inspect the perimeters of the Wall of Konoha for any exploitable weaknesses. There must have been some concurrent mission being conducted within the village from an outside power – and Iwa was taking the fall!

The ANBU with the dog mask said in an easy, yet threatening tone, "I suggest you leave the country, sir. Best to get a head start and all before we expose your treachery."

"Shut it, you – you damned ninja! I'll leave when I wish!" The Noble said huffily to his guards, "Come, we are leaving." He puttered out the door as swiftly as his weak legs could allow. For all he knew Iwa had been framed and some damning evidence would cause his life to be forfeit. It would be best to return home immediately.

ANBU Operative Dog of 1st Platoon continued to glare at the office door after the Noble had departed, still as a statue, but for the gentle trembling of his fists. He took a deep breath before steeling himself and springing into motion. The trail was still fresh and Dog was a great tracker. If anyone could find Naruto, it was him.

* * *

Night had settled over the Island that Naruto was inhabiting and he was scared. Flat-out scared. He had managed to pick some berries that he was pretty sure weren't poisonous but that had barely satisfied him. Judging from the slight twinge of pain in his stomach, maybe those berries had been poisonous. He was just lucky that he never got sick.

And so he lay on a low branch of a massive tree, a branch big enough that he would not roll off in the middle of the night and meet the ground with force. It was uncomfortable as all hell, but it would serve his purposes for the night. He realized dimly that he would need to find a better shelter or perhaps even create one for himself. Once more he felt his own lack of knowledge biting him in the ass.

His eyes were transfixed to the moon where it hung in the sky – full and bright.

Just then he heard far off sounds of movement. Naruto bolted upright, his head snapping towards the direction of the noise. It was coming closer. The footsteps weren't very heavy, but they did have some weight as they crunched through dried foliage and snapped twigs. Naruto strained his eyes to try and peer through the darkness – the footsteps had stopped. There was silence until he began to hear a slight rustle in the trees near him.

The blond boy scrambled to his feet, edging closer to the wider part of the branch closer to it's trunk. He would have more room to defend himself there, if need be. Naruto's watched closely as a figure came into sight. It had a hunched over form and walked on all fours along a thin branch. It skillfully navigated between branches and trees hopping and swinging this way and that. Then with a swift leap landed on Naruto's own branch.

"A monkey? Hey there, buddy!" To Naruto's knowledge, monkeys did not eat people and were supposed to be pretty smart. He let out a sigh of relief and took his hand away from the hilt of his machete.

The monkey, who was nearly as large as the boy in front of him, looked at him – seemingly in curiosity. It bounced it's fists against the branch and pushed down with it's feet, just barely swaying the thick limb. "Ooh Ooh Ooaah!" it grunted at him.

Naruto could honestly not tell whether the monkey was pleased to see him or just pissed off. He extended his hand nervously, palm showing and fingers pointed outwards. "I'm a friend, monkey-san."

"Ooh." It now bore it's teeth at him and bounced forward on the branch. It almost looked like it was smiling. "OAH OHH!" A fist at the end of a long and powerful arm slammed into the side of Naruto's head, throwing him off the branch entirely. It was perhaps a lucky thing that as Naruto was falling he crashed through a few thick branches, otherwise he would have hit the ground much harder.

He stood immediately, breathing heavy and in a lot of pain. The monkey had not had enough of him, apparently, it jumped down a few branches before landing only a few feet from him. "OWAH!" It lashed out at him again, striking him in the face twice and once in the stomach. The boy rolled over from the blows and scrambled away as fast as he could. But the monkey had already closed the distance and whacked him again. Naruto backed up so far he hit against a tree.

Naruto unsheathed the machete and held it out with shaking hands. "Don't come closer!" he shouted.

The animal raised it's fists and dashed at the blond boy.

"NO!" Naruto shouted as he swung the machete around like a baseball bat towards the animal.

* * *

Popo grimaced as he watched Naruto kill for the first time. This was far too cruel to do to a boy like Naruto, who craved the comfort of other people. Loneliness was the child's biggest fear and so to strand him on an island with no one was almost the worst thing imaginable.

The genie turned away from the scrying pool just as Naruto ran away from the fresh corpse, tears in his eyes. Piccolo grunted from where he stood over Popo's shoulder and away. His footsteps echoed through the hallway and continued outside.

"Bastard." Mr. Popo muttered, knowing full well that Piccolo would hear him, with his Namekian ears. He snapped his fingers and suddenly his flying carpet was beneath him. Another moment later and he was floating above Naruto, who had sat down with his arms curled around his knees at the base of a tree. "Naruto."

The boy's eyes shot up towards him and then went back to the ground. He spoke quietly, "Can I just go home?"

All of Popo's designs for Naruto's life fell away in an instant and he realized that his candidate was merely a child and perhaps did not want this responsibility. Piccolo's need to push the boy to his limits was not helping either. "If you truly wish to return to your old life, you may. But, I want you to understand just what you are abandoning before you do."

"Ok."

"What do you know of the world's history?"

Naruto looked sheepish, "I didn't pay much attention in class, I thought it was stupid... Guess I'm the stupid one now." He silently made a resolution to focus on his classes more when he returned to Konoha. There was nothing this genie could say that would make him want to stay here on the island.

"It's alright, as far as I can tell, no one in this world has an inkling as to the true origins of their civilization." Popo floated down towards Naruto and sat cross legged on his carpet, in front of the him. "In truth, the world only around 1000 years ago (1), looked like this." He conjured a globe, with the former geography of Earth on it's surface. "You've seen a map of the world, I assume?"

Naruto spun the globe a few times and examined to the land, it did not resemble the Elemental Nations or those few foreign places that been mapped. "Yeah, I have. It doesn't really look like this, but 1000 years is a long time."

"Indeed it is, Naruto." Popo spoke gravely, "But, in truth these kind of drastic changes would take far longer than 1000 years to happen naturally. Most of the planet," The genie snapped his fingers and the globe began to shake, "was blasted away." chunks of the globe shot off and crumbled away one after the other and soon only the landscape that Naruto was familiar with remained. "It was hell on earth."

"What could have done something like that?!"

"A war." He continued, "between people so powerful that if they had tried to, they could have blown away the entire planet. We are lucky that no one succeeded. These people were altered by science to become what they were. But they are irrelevant, they were merely aimless pointless killing machines once they became drunk on power. Your Sage of the Six Paths was of this number, the only one that had the decency to use his power for good, granted, he did come along later on in the picture."

Naruto gulped. The Sage was the most revered and ancient of Shinobi legends, if there was anything closest to god, it would be the Sage.

"The true story lies before the great destruction that undid everything. It was a time of peace and technology; there were heroes beyond imagination and eventually villains to match. They were chaotic times, but looking back on them, those were golden days." Popo seemed overly wistful here. "It's all quite tragic, the very hero who had saved the Earth from constant threat was the man who's existence forever altered the nature of his planet."

"Who was he?"

Popo chuckled before answering, "He was an alien too!"

"Aww, all green like Pickle-man?" Naruto asked.

"No, he looked just like a human, except for the tail that had a nasty habit of growing back for a while." Naruto seemed puzzled, but Popo merely snapped his fingers and a full scale model of Goku when he was Naruto's age, a mere 7, popped into existence. "That was him."

"Hey, he was a shrimp!"

"Hahah, he grew into himself very well. But, the thing about Goku, was that he had roots in outer space, dangerous roots." Another snap and the model of Goku morphed into a man with hair that stuck straight up who was wearing a strange form of armor with jutting shoulder blades. "He belonged to a warrior race known as the Saiyans. They had the ability of having naturally stronger bodies and ki than humans as well as the ability to turn into a giant ape on the night of the full moon." Popo let that statement sink in, before continuing. "The most powerful ability of the Saiyans was the ability the come back from the brink of death stronger than ever – if of course they managed to survive."

Naruto nodded. "They sound strong."

"They were, and just as you so easily made that realization, many others did. There was a powerful space tyrant, named Frieza. He enslaved the entire race of the Saiyan's and turned them into planetary pirates. They would wage war on entire worlds and slaughter the natives without mercy in order to sell the planet. Eventually he realized that the Saiyans could potentially become more powerful than him and so he wiped out their entire planet in one moment.

"But that is also irrelevant. I just want to make sure that you realize that as Guardian of Earth you won't just need to defend your village in order to gain their acknowledgment, Naruto. You would watch over the entire world and become it's representative in the Universe. It is an enormous task – you should know."

Naruto absorbed this information mutely. It was all very interesting but it did not make him want to stay on this island. The idea of defending the entire world, as a kind of super Hokage did appeal to him, but it was much better just to stay in Konoha, despite the loathing of the general populace. There were still the Ichiraku's and the Hokage to think about, after all.

"There were very few survivors, one being Goku, another being Vegeta, this man here." He gestured to the current model, "Vegeta and Goku came to see each other as allies in the end, but they were poised against each other from the very start. Together with Piccolo, a man named Krillin, and Goku's son, they overthrew Frieza and Goku attained a new form known as Super Saiyan. The strength of the Super Saiyan is incalculable, the Saiyans always did have limitless potential."

"Ok... Why tell me all of this?"

Popo snapped his fingers and there was a model of Naruto himself this time. "Those of shinobi blood with their chakra coils and bloodlines are all just the mutated remains of the original Saiyan gene. The ones who destroyed the world were the only ones left to repopulate it. It's a sad kind of justice, I suppose."

Naruto froze. That took a lot of getting used to. "I'm related to this Goku person?"

"Yes, distantly related, but so is everyone with the ability to use chakra. The Saiyan's possessed a coil system very similar to your chakra coils, however the difference in efficiency between the two is insurmountable." Seeing Naruto's confused look, he simplified, "The Saiyan's were much better at creating energy than you." Blank stare from Naruto. "Chakra."

"Ohhhhh..." Naruto said as he dropped his fist into his other hand, "Oh... So Goku was stronger than I can ever be?"

Popo did not answer for a moment, looking carefully at the boy, "In truth, Naruto, training as a Shinobi, you will never even come close to an 10th of Goku's power at the height of his strength."

Naruto looked shocked. "No way!"

"Yes, it's true. The nature of your chakra is to blame. Humans never had chakra coils before Saiyan DNA was mixed in - it was therefore impossible for them to mix the two energies of mind and body required to create chakra. However, humans have always been able to use the energies of mind and body separately."

"That means Goku had chakra?!" Naruto was agast, this Goku seemed awesome, whoever he was. He briefly formed an image in his mind of the young Goku he had seen throwing around a Katon jutsu. Popo did say he was stronger than him after all.

"No,. Perhaps if the Saiyans were a more intellectual people this capability to create Chakra would have been discovered, but there is no way of knowing if a pure-blooded Saiyan could have created it. Bulma theorized that the Saiyan physiology naturally used mental energy to stoke the Ki in ones body. Like adding air to a fire." Naruto understood that. He had been taught that when creating a fire, it was sometimes necessary to blow on it in order to get the ember to ignite or just to burn faster.

"Chakra is a useful energy, but it loses some of the power of the two energies when used separately. Your Sage of Six Paths understood this. The reason he was so powerful was because he could use all three energies at once. I understand he had also been heavily mutated from being birthed of two artificial Saiyans and possessed some unique abilities.

"You see, the pure physicality of Ki cannot be matched by chakra. It allowed users to move faster than you ever only using chakra. They could even fly." The boy's mouth dropped open and then remembered that he had actually seen Piccolo burst upwards from the ground and disappear into the sky earlier that day. Popo laughed and said, "It's true! You could fly if you allowed Piccolo to teach you. Judging from your impressive power level for someone of your age it wouldn't take you too long to use this ability.

"Chakra creates interesting effect, from using Ki and Chi together, certain effects would be unmatched by either alone. Ki is more than 10 times as effective as using chakra alone when it comes to any sort of physical work, including the force necessary to suspend oneself in the air by pushing away air particles beneath the foot to create thrust. Using ki, one can shoot beams of pure physical energy out of the body. It was one of Goku's signature techniques." Popo put his hands together at the side of his waist and narrowed his eyes at Naruto. He flexed his muscles, "Ka," He twisted his hands, "Me," he brought his glowing hands forward, "HA ME," Naruto flinched and put his hands up to shield his face. "HAAAAA!"

He was met with a wave of cool air. "What the heck, Mr. Popo?!"

"Hahaha! As a genie I possess no physical energy of my own. I have more than enough mental energy to make up for it though. It is what allows me to use magic and to conjure food and other items." Naruto frowned at the genie for pranking him, there would be hell to pay for that.

Naruto glared the the genie for a moment and mulled over some of the information he had learned. A question formed in his mind, "Who is stronger, Goku or the Hokage?"

Popo winced, "Well, your Hokage is certainly powerful for a human but even the few humans that fought with Goku were probably more powerful than him, while using only Ki. If certain individuals in this world were to switch over to using all three energies than I have no doubt that they would likely force even Goku to at least become Super Saiyan, which is no small feat, I assure you."

That sealed the deal. "Ok, fine, Popo, you win. I'll train to be this Guardian or whatever," he held up a finger while grinning, "But, if I ever feel that I need to go to Konoha, than I can, alright?"

The genie smiled and nodded, "Yes, that is fine. In dire situations you may return to your home."

"And for ramen and visits." Naruto pressed forward.

Popo said, "What?"

"Yeah, someones gotta go eat with the Ichiraku's! Plus I bet the old man is going crazy right now wondering where I am... They kinda keep a tight watch on me," Naruto chuckled as he continued, "I remember this one time I got lost in the woods and by the time I wandered back to Konoha the next day they had organized like 10 search parties in front of the gates who were about to go looking for me!"

"R-really?" Popo wondered, a little concerned. That was not the average response when an orphan went missing. Perhaps he should have done a little research before abducting Naruto... "Anyway, I don't know if you will be allowed to go for ramen and visits, perhaps on rare occasions. We'll discuss it later."

"Fine," Naruto sighed, "But first, I need one favor, Popo."

"What's that?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "I need you to find my Academy textbooks from my apartment. It would be great if I could use them to help me survive and learn out here. It's not like I'll have anything better to do."

"Ok, just wait here, I'll be back shortly."

"Alright," Naruto responded reluctantly, he was not eager to be all alone again.

* * *

The ANBU codenamed Dog was currently rushing his way into the village. He had spent the entire day desperately searching the outskirts of Konoha in order to find any trace of a shinobi having departed from anywhere but the main gate. Every member of Konoha's military was only allowed to leave the village from the designated area in order to keep track of their forces. That meant that it was far more likely that the trail would start in the middle of nowhere, away from the main road, since they would have had to dove off the side of the wall in order to leave undetected.

Today had been a day of disappointment for him and now, desperately, he was returning to the scene of the crime so that he could study for any clues that may have been overlooked. Entire streets were crossed in moments as he poured on as much speed as he could muster. Time was such an important factor when it came to this kind of situation.

Naruto's apartment building came into sight. He jumped down to the street level and startled a nearby civilian. You would think that they 'd get used to such things.

He rushed up the 4 flights of steps and through the cruddy hallway and finally came to Naruto's door, which had been taped off. He lifted the orange tape and opened the door, and was hit with an unfamiliar scent.

He stepped as lightly as possible, with as much speed as he could. His eyes darted around the room, things had been disturbed, someone had rummaged through Naruto's belongings and no one investigating the crime scene in an official sense would have been so sloppy.

Naruto's bedroom door was open.

* * *

Popo had found the first textbook easily, it had been jammed into a corner underneath Naruto's bed, with a sock draped over it and a couple of stains that could have been soy sauce marring the cover, which Popo did not want to examine further.

The second book had proven more elusive. He had started searching in the bedroom and soon had to expand his search to the entire apartment. Popo had gone through Naruto's closet, his kitchen, any drawer in the place, and even the bathroom. It was all useless.

He went into the bedroom and rummaged around in the closet, finding nothing.

Popo went back to reach for the doorknob and even opened the door, before something caught his eye. "What the..."

Why would Naruto rest a house plant on top of his school book?

He sighed and went over to grab the plant and discovered the reason. A large clump of dirt fell out of the bottom of the pot and onto the already dirty book. Popo looked at the book in distaste. "I suppose he did not want his table to get dirty."

Shaking his head, he went back to his magic carpet, books in hand and potted plant on the table. The door opened quickly and a masked ninja stared at him. Instantly the man was upon him, he had barely managed to get onto his carpet. A knife was against his throat and Popo was panicking. If this man killed him here, he would reform at the Lookout - his carpet would be captured by these brutes. And Naruto was waiting for his books!

"Damnit." His carpet flashed away while both him and the shinobi on it. He reformed high above the air in front of Naruto. "Catch!" the books landed on Naruto's head and he looked up to see an ANBU on Popo's carpet!

Dog saw Naruto looking shocked, dirty and a little bruised, sitting in front of a tree holding books. He pressed the kunai against Popo's throat harder and before he could continue to slit the black creature's throat everything slipped away once more. Suddenly he was in the sky, nothing but dark blue on any side of him and tiles leading up to a busted up palace in the corner of his eye. He hesitated from killing the thing. He had no idea where he was and some information gathering would be necessary. "You teleport us again and you die, do you understand?"

The jet-black thing finally spoke, "You may pierce me with your knife as many times as you please. Each time I will return to you with a smile on my face through that door." He gestured to the ruined structure. "A more powerful force than you would be required to undo my existence." He laughed, "This place survived the end of an age, it can handle a lowly murderer such as yourself with no effort."

"Perhaps I should I test this?"

"Test away." Popo said with no fear in his voice.

The ANBU studied him for a moment and then asked, "Where are we?"

"At the Lookout." A deep voice said from behind him. "If you put up a fight against me I will kill you and throw your body off of the side of this place."

He peered over his shoulder and immediately leapt away from both of the figures. This was far too strange. One black and one green, two unearthly beings, both seemingly responsible for Naruto's disappearance, or at least connected to it. He had jumped farther than he thought and landed near the edge of the platform, that he now realized was suspended very, VERY, high above the Earth - so much so that he could see the curvature of the planet. No escape. It was now important to bide some time while he thought his way out of this. "Did you two abduct that boy that we teleported away from?"

The green one said, "I am not going to answer that. I am going to knock you out so my associate here can bring you back to your village."

"I am no slouch. I do not doubt that you may have some strange abilities but I am a jounin of the Leaf Village and you will not find me to be such an easy victory."

"Haha, if I possessed any real sense of battle-lust I would probably toy around with you for a while. It always irritated me when a comrade would take his time beating somebody just for the fun of it. It even bit us in the ass a few times."

The black thing asked him curiously, "Vegeta?"

Green guy nodded, "Gogeta too." (2)

"Listen, you have abducted a citizen of Konoha and the entire force of the village will come down on you if he is not-" Dog was now flying backwards faster than he ever had before, and now he was flying upwards. He looked down at the hand that was choking him and followed it up towards the green monster that was before his eyes.

He struck out at the thing with the kunai still in his hand, but the thing's other hand came up and knocked his arm away so hard it broke. The shinobi felt his mind darkening and heard the green blur say, "Naruto will return to your village some day, perhaps. The boy has a higher calling than just being one of you mercenaries. Hey don't pass out, I'm trying to-"

The ANBU slipped into oblivion.

* * *

There's chapter 2. I'm really pleased with the response to this story and as a result this chapter is coming out earlier than I had anticipated. If you liked it, didn't like it, let me know so I can make it better. Admittedly, reviews do help me write faster, so keep'em coming.

(1): 1000 Years is a rough estimate on the amount of that that has passed since Piccolo went into hibernation. I don't want to get too exact but it happened maybe 20 years after the Majin Buu Saga ended. I would explain just exactly how Piccolo survived this long, but it will be explained in story at some point in the near future.

(2): Gogeta - I want to clarify something, in this story GT does not exist. GT wasn't that great, so I'm not going to include it. Don't be surprised to see some elements from GT make an appearance, but you should basically disregard it. All DBZ movie villains are being treated as Canon, including the God of Destruction Beerus from the new DBZ movie. That does mean that Goku became a Super Saiyan God and all that.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: You won't see notes from me up here very often (especially such long notes). But, I think I should give an anonymous review a bit of special attention, since it did raise a point that I'm surprised no one else called me on. If you are satisfied with your current knowledge on how Chakra/Chi/Ki work in this story, feel free to skip down to where the chapter begins.

"Although I'm uncertain on how to feel about Goku needing to go S.S to fight off (any/all) ninja population. I won't go into the Powerlevel bullshit, but even at the start of Dragonball Z, Goku and few others can already level mountains and are seemingly indestructible/faster than speeding bullet/have an enormous amounts of stamina/etc. He was fighting universal God-like beings at the end of series..."  
When I was explaining the difference between Chakra and Ki and Chi, I felt that the explanation was a little rushed. Unfortunately, the Popo exposition scene was running pretty long and I wanted to wrap it up.

The differences in the effectiveness of Chakra and Ki come from the nature of the forces itself. I'll leave Chi out of the equation for now, as it is pretty straight forward; spells, conjuring, telepathy, empathy, all that jazz that could be put under the category of magic.

Ki is, to my mind, pure untapped potential energy that the characters in DBZ accumulate and store through eating/training/whatever. As a result, it is more readily and efficiently transfered directly into kinetic energy. Things like flying, moving faster, even launching energy attacks are made infinitely easier through the use of Ki simply because it is more suited for that kind of work than chakra. Ki is good at physical assault and destruction, while Chi is used mainly for creating.

Chakra, possessing elements of both forces, comes in as the happy medium - while losing some of the bite of each indivual force. Last chapter I briefly mentioned that Chakra acted as a field and this quality come from the use of Chi in tempering the sheer forcefulness of Ki, suspending the energy and mixing it with ones willpower makes it more controlled. I think the highest level of Ki manipulation once it left the body was from Trunks when he made a beam arc in the air to chase a foe, and from some of Krillin's attacks now that I think on it.

Anyway, Chakra is not nearly as brutally effective as Ki, but it picks up a lot of utility and versatility from being highly controlled and directed. Things like elemental manipulation and complex jutsu (Edo Tensei, Medical Chakra, Summoning, Pure Shape Manipulation (Rasengan)) become possible. Magic would likely be better for some of these tasks (Healing especially) but Magic is VERY difficult to learn without a teacher and the knowledge of earthly magic was wiped away during the Crisis. Sealing would come closest, I suppose.

The last, obvious, question is that if Chakra is so much weaker than Ki and Chi, why would anyone even use it? It comes down to the Sage of Six Paths, who saw the danger of using Ki and Chi seperately. He went all over the world helping people and teaching them of a new energy that was miraculous and far more controllable. In this fic, he spent his life not only spreading peace, but essentially forcing people into using only chakra. Over time the knowledge of using the forces seperately was lost to all, hidden by the Sage's legacy.

Those who would come closest to discovering the two energies would be civilians and people like Rock Lee who cannot use Chakra outright.

And to address the other point in the review, last chapter I mentioned that certain individuals from the ninja world would be able to force Goku into becoming a Super Saiyan. However, I did stipulate that these people would have had to have been using all three forms of energy in conjunction, similar to the Sage himself. Now think about it this way, there are certain shinobi who possess the ability to alter the landscape all on their own and possess speeds higher than we saw at least until the Saiyan Saga in DBZ.

If those shinobi (the strongest of the S-Rank) were to use Ki with ease, and could use their Chi to stimulate it (as the Saiyans did) using their coils while using Chakra for added versatility, I'd see Base-Form Goku having a bit of trouble with them. Even by the end of DBZ, 100% Power Frieza would have been able to defeat Goku in his Base-Form (this is indeed a fact. I was a bit surprised too.) So, while it may seem strange that any shinobi could even hold a candle to Goku, if they could fight like the Sage, should they really even be called shinobi anymore?

As a final note, once Goku went Super Saiyan, it would be cease to be a fight and become a curb-stomping.

Anyway, despite the long rant the anonymous review invited, I do appreciate that he/she poked a hole in my story. It lets me know what I'm doing wrong and I need more of that.

* * *

Chapter 3 : Tenkaichi

The days had been long and lonesome, prolonged by the constant effort just to maintain his own existence. Naruto marked the days on a small boulder near his camp, which had developed late into his stay on the island. It was a simple bed of dried leaves and a shoddily made blanket woven out of long green leaves. 90 days was a long time to spend by oneself without getting bored and so he busied himself in any way he could.

Without the Textbooks that Popo had delivered him, Naruto might just have gone crazy. Reading through the books had been an enlightening experience, as he came to see just how much relevant information about being a shinobi the book offered. Some of the lessons from the Survival chapters had saved his life on multiple occasions.

He had thought that learning from the book would never really matter when it came to being a ninja, because you wouldn't need to know these things while fighting. And yet even something as basic as surviving in the wilderness had been impossible for him before he took the time to read the book. Naruto envisioned himself on a mission with a bunch of serious looking older ninja and being unable to stop pooping because he had eaten the wrong type of mushrooms (something which had happened a lot at first). Hokage material indeed.

But, slowly he grew comfortable in the wilderness. His stomach stopped grumbling angrily at him every day as it longed for food. His hands became deft at starting fires and tying knots and even at flipping pages in his textbooks. Naruto began to thrive on the island and to call the animals he once feared friends.  
At first that species of monkey, or ape, as he now realized was more likely, antagonized him relentlessly. Whether it was just in the nature of the species or perhaps revenge for the ape that he had killed, for a time they spent all day trying to ruin whatever activity he had in mind. More than once, Naruto had been assaulted while trying to build a fire, apes, much larger than the first, howling and spitting and throwing his gathered materials all around. During those times Naruto would try his best to look unaffected and to watch them from afar without fear. It grew easier by the day, and eventually he designed traps around his area so that they would have a harder time of it.

Eventually, once he began to feed them, they stopped harassing him and left him alone. But, that was not good enough for Naruto, who was determined to make friends. He approached the ape group's territory regularly, bringing food and any kind of shiny item he could find. Soon enough his presence was not just tolerated, but welcomed.

There was much to learn from the group of animals, from the way they threw weight behind their blows to the way they nimbly ambled up trees. Naruto, whether he realized it or not, had assimilated a few of the motions into his "Taijutsu style" which at this point was a variety of moves designed to look as cool as possible versus being effective as possible.

But, none of that mattered to Naruto. If his count was correct, he was sure that it was, today was the day that Popo would come to collect him! He jumped around happily even as he dismantled his camp, the fruits of months of his labor. As he finished, he tied the bare essentials to his back with woven vine, over the machete that he reluctantly recovered a few days after leaving it behind. Luckily the corpse had been dragged away, leaving only the machete behind.  
Naruto was entirely pleased that he had never had an encounter with the large predators the island had to offer. Sure, he had seen them from a distance before and privately freaked out, but he had never been pit against one of the fearsome animals.

He marched happily away from his former camp and towards the same beach he had been left on all those days ago.

"Popo!" Naruto exclaimed when he layed eyes on the genie, who was floating a few meters above the ground.

Popo smiled serenely back at him.

"Where's Piccolo?" Naruto asked as he peered around. He was eager to see the alien so that he stand before him and proudly proclaim that the test did not break him and that he was still alive and ready to kick him right in between the eyes. Piccolo had watched him with the same casual disdain as the villagers of Konoha. There was nothing that he wanted more than to prove his own worth to both parties.

Mr Popo heaved a sigh, "He's bound to turn up sometime soon."

"Oh, alright. Lets get off this dumb island already please! I need to go to Ichiraku Ramen, and fast!"  
"We will not be able to visit your village for the time being, Naruto." Popo said flatly, he began to descend down to Naruto's level, the magic carpet beneath him flapped lazily in the wind.

"What do you mean?

Popo explained, "Well, if I were to take you into the village, there is a high likelihood that I will be killed. We did kidnap you, after all. That on it's own is not so bad, since I would reappear at the Lookout, but this carpet is an artifact that I would not be able to recreate and the Shinobi would no doubt be interested in it's uses." The genie had hit the ground by the end of his words and invited Naruto to step onto the carpet.

Naruto looked down for a moment, "Do you know how to make ramen?"

* * *

Piccolo stood before the gate of Konoha. The two chuunin guards were staring at him with wide eyes, as was everyone else, the civilians who were going about their careers or shopping, the few shinobi who mixed in with the hustle and bustle, going about their business. The shock must have wore off because the two guards were already in action as they stood in the giant doorway. "You will submit to authority and allow us to escort you to the Interrogation department, otherwise you will be taken by force." said the man, his black hair falling over one of his eyes.

"We recognize you, you are a criminal and will be brought to justice." The other dark haired man also said. Several other shinobi, jounin and chuunin had caught on and were flanking the two guards.

One man leaned towards the other, "Is that an alien?"

"I will not be submitting to anything. I would rather that you just bring me to your Hokage, I wish to have a conversation."

A hot tempered chuunin stepped forward, "Over my dead body!" His hands blurred through handseals until they landed on the Tiger, "Katon!" A large stream of fire shot out of his mouth at Piccolo, burning almost blue from the intensity.

"Hiroki!" The guard with the one visible eye turned to a shinobi and told him to hurry to the Hokage's office or notify the first Anbu he saw. Hiroki nodded and ran off to spread the message, pulsing his chakra with every step, to attract attention from the ANBU who could travel faster.

The blue-orange flames cleared revealing that Piccolo had cleared from the attack by a large margin, standing maybe 50 feet down the road. Suddenly he was right in front of the again, the distance closed in less than half a second. "You should not do that again. Now take me to YOUR LEADER!" Piccolo blurred and suddenly the hot tempered chuunin was launched away from Piccolo's fist and careened through the air into the side of a nearby building.

"ALIEN!" A civilian yelled and ran away from the scene frantically. The panic moved from him out into the crowd and soon the people were scrambling away, pushing and jostling one another in their fervor. More shinobi noticed the disturbance and were closing in.

The assembled shinobi watched Piccolo intently, this opponent was clearly out of their league and none wanted to make the first move without more backup. Piccolo was amused by the shocked expressions on their faces. "Are you going to bring me to your leader or what?"

* * *

"Woah, it even has the same bowl and everything!" Naruto exclaimed as he looked down at the steaming bowl of ramen, on the table once again filled to the edges with food.

Popo nodded and said, "I took the memory of Ichiraku Ramen out of your head and put it directly in the bowl. You should enjoy it just the same as you would in your village. Now if you excuse me I do have something to watch in the scrying pool." He left Naruto to his meal, calling over his shoulder, "Do eat some of the other food as well, you need more than just ramen!"

Naruto briefly considered what exactly the scrying pool was, but dropped the line of thought in favor of the enticing bowl of soup under his nose. He broke apart his chopsticks and cautiously brought some of the noodles to his mouth. "Wow!" It was exactly the same as the ramen from back home! He dug in with abandon and greedily slurped up as much of the noodles as possible. Now and then he ate from a few other dishes, as Popo had suggested, but the ramen was the treasure in the meal. Such delicious food after months of eating fruits and roasted fish was truly gratifying.

Then again...

He thought back to the laughter and happiness he had shared with the ramen shop owners. They had not known each other for long, but the Ichiraku's had become a part of his life. A life that he was missing more than he thought possible, despite its occasional ups and constant downs.

Naruto sighed and put his chop sticks down over the bowl, it was mostly finished anyway. He pushed out his chair and stood, itching at his head. His hair had gotten awfully long, he noticed. He walked out through the door and through the hallway into the room where a small pool sat in the middle. Popo was crouched in front of the water.

"What is Piccolo doing in the Hokage's office?!" Naruto exclaimed once he sat next to the genie.

"It seems as though he is trying to smooth over the kidnapping aspect." Piccolo stood in front of the familiar desk of the Hokage, surrounded on all sides by ANBU and Jounin.

He smirked, "How can you tell? It looks to me like Pickle-san is in over his head."

"I can read lips. Though Piccolo is not the diplomatic sort, he can be quite persuasive. He is very sharp."

"I can see that..." Naruto muttered. The green alien did not seem like someone to be trifled with.

"Anyway, if he succeeds, then bringing you to your village occasionally could be a real possibil... ity... Oh, damn you, Piccolo." Silence reigned for a few heavy moments. He did not like that look on Popo's face.

Naruto hopped up from his crouching position, "What?"

"He - you son of a-" Piccolo took a step forward and slapped his hand down on the Hokage's desk as he continued to speak with conviction. Several ninja jumped forward to stop him, and Sarutobi was immediately a battle stance as well. He burst up into the air, up through the roof and away from Konoha as debris and chunks of wood fell through the hole he created.

"Is he crazy or something?!" Naruto asked as he pressed forward to get a closer look, "What is that, that he left on the desk?"

"I can't believe him!" Popo shouted and took off to get his carpet.

The blond boy watched the genie go, quite confused as to what had sent him into such a panic. What was so special about that gray orb?

* * *

Popo appeared a few hundred meters off from Piccolo, high in the sky. The Namekian smirked and shot forward, stopping only an arm's length away from him. Popo's eyes were unusually narrow, "You've gone too far now, Piccolo! This is the last straw, I tell you! You dare use the Dragon Balls as a mere bargaining chip? And to what end? So that the shinobi will kill each other in order to possess them all? Are you mad?!"

"That is not my intention. Clearly you did not pay attention to my offer. Each of the six major powers in this world will receive a Dragon Ball. I have already handed out 4." Popo's anger was magnified, but Piccolo continued, "In 5 years time, there will be a tournament for the last ball, which I will keep in my possession. Each contestant needs a Dragon Ball in order to enter. Each faction can only volunteer two fighters. When their contestants lose, they lose their Dragon Ball."

"I understood that! But do you realize the amount of tension this is going to create between the nations? If they believe that the Dragon Balls can really grant any wish, I assure you that they would stop at nothing to attain them. You have unleashed a force of chaos on this world, Piccolo."

"You may not have seen it, but there was a note left underneath each and every one of the balls that I delivered to the Kages, detailing the exact terms of the tournament. Also I have not reactivated them, so the balls are inert."

"It doesn't make a bit of difference! These shinobi will be killing each other for no reason other than to-"  
Piccolo interrupted him with a snort, "Who says that they will be fighting each other?"

"What?"

"There are two divisions to this tournament. I let them know that I am the strongest being on this planet, and that they would have two chances to win because of that unfair fact." He held up two fingers, "The Adult division, and the Junior division."

"NO. You can't honestly expect -"

"I do. If any contestant from any village manages to best Naruto or myself in combat, they will secure the Dragon Balls for their village."

"I cannot allow this, this is a step too far, Piccolo." Popo said angrily.

"Regardless of your preferences, the tournament will go on. If there is anything that can unite a people, it is a common enemy." He clapped the stunned genie on his shoulder before leaving him behind. Mockingly, he shouted back, "Off to the next village!"

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Naruto had begun living on the Lookout and he had not once seen Piccolo. Popo assured him that he would be along any day to start training him, but Naruto was beginning to lose faith. Every day he reluctantly absorbed the information that Popo was teaching him, it was very boring stuff and felt similar to history class in the Academy, but he resolved himself to take notes and study during Popo's lectures. It was a very rough life so far.

The food was an upside and Naruto realized that he had put on some extra weight and was not so skinny anymore. Physically he felt better than he ever had in his life.

Popo seemed to be in a foul mood, however. Whenever he wasn't teaching he was by the scrying pool, monitoring the situation on Earth as best he could. Naruto would join him sometimes, especially whenever Konoha was being displayed. He seemed stressed about something, almost nervous even.

Naruto was in the midst of jotting down some piece of information about the elements and something called "science" which he hardly understood - when Popo's speech was interrupted by a deep voice, making Naruto jump.

"It's time for training, kid." Piccolo said from the doorway, leaning against the bare stone with his arms folded over his chest.

He turned to Popo with a hopeful gaze and raised his notebook a bit. Popo nodded silently at him and began to wipe off the chalkboard he used during lessons.

The Namekian led him outside in silence and Naruto could feel his anxiety rising. What would be expected of him now? Some sort of torturous test of endurance, or a full out brawl between him and the alien? Most likely a combination of both. Naruto looked at the machete over his shoulder that he had hastily grabbed on his way out of the door praying he wouldn't have to use it.

"Alright then, sit down." Piccolo ordered. Naruto immediately complied. "It used to be that humans couldn't access their Ki because there was just not enough of it to be noticed. Skilled martial artists would begin to be able to channel their Ki, even if just unconciously, and could move beyond human limitations."  
Naruto nodded.

"If you are any example, even kids are just swimming in it," Piccolo continued in a flat tone, "even if you have no idea that it's there. Did the shinobi ever teach you how to access your chakra?"

"Well, we were going to start working with chakra a little later in the year, but my text book did say a little bit about it..." Naruto began hesitantly.

"And?"

"Um, you just kind of feel for it and make this handsign." Naruto put his hands into the Tiger seal and laughed a bit, "I think I can feel something. Like warm water running around in my body. I've done this part before but this is all the text explains how to do."

Piccolo sat in thought, most of the time the person trying to channel Ki already had fighting experience and a well trained physique. Harmony with one's body was especially important when generating Ki. He thought back to Gohan, with all of his latent potential. Technically, Gohan's physiology was similar to Naruto's. He thought back to the easiest way to trigger Gohan's outbursts of power. Anger.

"Even feeling Ki is beyond you? Ha! That is just what I would have expected from a runt like you."

Naruto grit his teeth, "I'm doing the best I can."

"Yeah, like that matters. Clearly your best is not good enough."

The blond jinchuriki closed his eyes to shut out the annoying alien and turned his gaze inward, trying to find a way to use the energy in his body. If he concentrated a bit, he could drag it around, maybe if he brought it to the surface of his skin...

Piccolo was a little surprised to feel Naruto's power spike just a little, especially since the boy had kept his cool. "Did you make any progress?" Piccolo asked in a more neutral tone.

"I can move it around if I try."

He shook his head. "That's not how Ki works. If I had to guess I'd say that's Chakra you're feeling. Ki works along with contractions in your muscle. If you have to think about it and move it around, then that is related to Chi, or the energy of the mind."

Naruto had heard of Chi during his lectures from Popo. "Ok, so how do I separate the two?"

Piccolo nearly slapped himself, "Of course, stand up. Show me a punch" Naruto did so and soon Piccolo was moving his body into a fighting stance. "No, move your foot back, bend your knee... Arm up here. That's right. You're going to want to push a little off of your back foot, while twisting your hip- No, not that much. Too much weight behind a punch can knock you off balance. Just straight out and straight back, nothing fancy."

"Alright, alright." Naruto once again performed his terrible punch.

"Weren't you training to be a shinobi?"

Naruto looked a bit sheepish, "I was only in my second year of training, and the teachers never really wanted to help me. I hated class anyway, but..." He did another bad punch, "I tried to make up for it by practicing on my own."

"I can see that." Piccolo continued to go over the basics of throwing a punch for a long while, correcting different flaws he encountered along the way. Popo watched from the arched doorway, pleasantly surprised by what he saw.

Inwardly, Piccolo was not happy with the slow pace of the training, but he realized that Naruto learned best when given slow instruction and through physical repetition. By the end of the afternoon he had Naruto throwing a passable straight punch. They had begun attempting to feel the flow of Ki within the strike, but Popo called Naruto in for dinner and a rest.

Piccolo went out to train or meditate or whatever he did when not on the Lookout, Naruto rationalized as he stood in his room, repeating the punch that Piccolo had shown him. "This feels like a good punch alright!" Naruto said jubilantly. He could almost make out the crackling power of Ki in his muscles now, the electric current that went through him each time he exerted himself. It was a subtle feeling that was hard to grasp but impossible to ignore once enlightened to it's existence.

Popo sighed and said, "Your dinner is getting cold, even your ramen has been untouched."

"Yeah, yeah, it'll be there when I'm done." He made another few tries and let out a whoop when his punch traveled much faster than on any other attempt. His muscles felt lively, like they had been zapped. "Wow that felt different!"

Popo's neck had snapped to the blond, "That's impressive, Naruto!" He had felt a small but noticeable spike of Ki in Naruto's direction. "But, I must insist you eat your dinner. It is true that it will stay on the table for as long as necessary but I am sure that your arm will remain attached to your body for just as long."

"Fine, fine." Naruto said and settled down before his meal.

* * *

Piccolo stood before the orange haired man, "It took me a long while to track you down. I have a proposition for you. A tournament." He held up an ashen gray orb.

"Go on."

* * *

"And who do you suggest that we send, if me must take part in this tournament?" Sarutobi asked, his patience nearing a breaking point. Danzo's frequent interruptions were beginning to take a toll on his peace of mind.

The scarred man said in the same manner as one would talk about preparing dinner, "We have five years to create a shinobi powerful enough to defeat your boy. It's simple." The Hokage shook his head, but Danzo pressed forward, "That alien is far too powerful to best, no matter who we could put him up against. From Hatake Kakashi's reports, he was unable to even lift a finger against this Piccolo."

"I refuse to turn a child into a weapon just to suit your needs, Danzo."

"Not my needs, the needs of Konoha! Don't you see how age has weakened you, made you sentimental? Your lax treatment of the Uzumaki boy is the reason we are even in this mess."

Sarutobi stopped for a few seconds and gathered his thoughts, "As always, Danzo, your thoughts have some merit. If not for the age restriction on the junior division, this plan would be quite viable. But 5 years of constant training is not good for the development of any child, and I can only hope that Naruto is not undergoing that same fate, wherever he is." Danzo opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted, "Let me finish. The existence of these Dragon Balls is a real possibility, given the ancient stories. We all know that legends are rooted in fact and I believe that the appearance of this otherworldly being is proof that things are changing before our eyes. We cannot allow this chance at a wish pass by, if only because I doubt that the other villages will do the same."  
Danzo finally got a word in, "I promise you that they will not let this go. They will arrive at the same conclusion as I have. The boy is the weakness, in more than one way. He is a grip on Konoha, through your emotional attachment to him and the only means we have to win this tournament! I urge you to either use one of my shinobi or seriously consider giving some genin prospect some special attention."

"One of your shinobi? I thought that your organization was disbanded, Danzo." Sarutobi narrowed his eyes at the war-hawk. He was truly beginning to test the limits of the Hokage's patience.

"Of course, Hokage-sama, my forces are as nonexistent as always - all for the benefit of Konoha."

Sarutobi cut across Danzo's statement in a harsh voice, "And who would you suggest we forge into this weapon?"

"Perhaps Uchiha Sasuke, he certainly has the necessary drive."

"No." He responded simply, "That boy has enough to worry about without intensive training interfering in his childhood."

"As you wish. Though, what childhood that boy has is already questionable at best after last year's disaster." He said the last word airily, with an eyebrow quirked.

Sarutobi let loose the deafening weight of his chakra, the force that both intimidated his enemies and bolstered his allies. He stared directly into Danzo's single eye, eyebrows furrowed and his mouth a grim line. "Leave my office - now. I will take your suggestions into consideration."

Danzo was unfazed by the considerable burst of chakra and bowed slightly, "Hokage-sama."

The old Hokage fumed for a few moments once Danzo had left the room, and leaned back in his chair, breathing deeply. Eyes fixed to the ceiling, he reached forward and felt around in his drawer for his pipe. He sat forward and began to pack tobacco into the chamber. The pipe went up to his mouth and he took a long pull while lighting before sinking back into the comfort of his chair.

"Rabbit."

An ANBU member appeared before his desk, crouched on one knee.

"Tell Takanagi Ichirou, the head of the Academy, to come see me." He said in a low voice.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." The ANBU disappeared just as he had appeared, into a wisp of smoke.

Sarutobi took a drag of his pipe and sighed out the smoke. It had been years since the Wartime Protocols had been used in the Academy. He shook his head and the rest of the smoke came streaming from his nostrils, he tapped the remaining ash into it's tray. "Nothing good lasts forever, I suppose."

* * *

AN: The plot thickens in this chapter and we see some hints at future events. I am going to try and get back to Hour of Darkness soon, if anyone cares, but this fic has been on my mind a lot. Leave a review and tell me what you liked or hated or if you'd like to see something in the story. Just don't be too harsh, or actually yeah, be as harsh as you want - if you give me some good advice.

(1): Wartime Protocols - These are the lesson plans and tactics taught to Academy students during a time of war. Because there is no real need for more shinobi, you won' t see any of the accelerated graduation rates that come during war. However, Academy students are expected to have more practical knowledge as well as actual fighting capability before they can graduate and the courses reflect these stricter requirements.


End file.
